


Press play, gamer

by natigail



Series: Phanfic Bingo 2019 [4]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: 2014!Phan, DanAndPhilGAMES, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gaming, M/M, Phandom Fic Fests: Bingo, Reality, YouTube
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 17:43:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20782562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natigail/pseuds/natigail
Summary: They have done many joint projects through the years, but they have never seriously dabbled in gaming, even if it has always been something they've enjoyed together. Dan and Phil decide that it's the year to change that and they could never have imagined how big a part that little gaming channel would become.Phanfic Bingo - 2014





	Press play, gamer

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't get to proof-read this before posting, because I've been busy yesterday and I'm out this afternoon but I'm nothing if not a person sticking to my schedule. So sorry for any errors and I'll try to remember to read it through tomorrow.

The idea comes to them in the spring. They were playing Donkey Kong at the time, and banter flew easily as always. They had been playing games together ever since they met in 2009 and a couple of videos had made it onto the internet but never anything serious. Despite their enjoyment for games, they didn’t consider themselves part of the gaming community. Maybe it was why they had never considered making a gaming channel until five years into knowing each other.

“We should start a gaming channel,” Phil said after they finished their game.

“What?” Dan asked, whipping around to face his roommate. “A gaming channel? Why do you say that?”

Phil just shrugged. “It could be fun. And it would be a great way to give our viewers more content between our personal videos. Surely gaming videos can’t take as long to edit.”

Dan hummed but it wasn’t really in agreement. He already knew that he and Phil both had careful and throughout ways of editing their videos. They would never be the type to just sit-down record and throw it up without really doing anything.

Phil noticed Dan’s hesitance but he wasn’t sure where it was coming from. “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know… joint gaming channels that’s a little coupley,” Dan said and wrinkled his nose.

Phil gave him a deadpan look.

“I know!” Dan said and threw his hands up. He looked almost embarrassed at his worry but Phil wasn’t one to let that sit.

“Hey, it’s okay. We don’t have to do it. It’s just a silly idea,” Phil said and reached out to take Dan’s hand and give it a squeeze. They were not ready to come out and while Phil had not considered a joint channel to be sending those signals, he could understand where Dan was coming from. A lot of couples shared channels, made themselves in Sims or something.

Phil tried to ignore how much he wanted to do that as well. Maybe they could just do it in private if not for videos. It had been ages since he’d played Sims. What number were they even on at the moment?

“I know,” Dan said. “But it’s not a bad idea, Phil. I mean, it would be fun. Playing games with you is great. I’m sure we would have a lot of fun times and it would be good to have some easier videos to film that I don’t have to roll around on the floor a week prior to filming.”

Dan could see it in front of him now. He knew how him and Phil spoke to each other while playing games, borderline flirting, a lot of mad bants and general good vibes. He also knew that people would be able to read into some of the interactions and that they might start to drop their guard eventually.

Dan was a little apprehensive about it all, partly because of the possible insinuations, partly because he worried it might affect his enjoyment of the games they’d play. But mostly, he shared that spark of excitement that Phil had when he’d just blurted out the idea.

Dan was not much of a spontaneous man, Phil usually had to push him to get him to agree to anything like that but he made a decision then and there.

“I’m saving a channel name for us,” Dan said and went to fetch his laptop.

Phil trailed behind him. “Yeah? What are you going to call it?”

“Something simple,” Dan said, laptop now balanced in his hand.

“As long as it does not include _isonfire_ or _Amazing_ then I’m happy,” Phil said and grinned widely, his tongue pushing against his teeth.

“Ha. Ha,” Dan muttered. “I’m just going to call it Dan and Phil games.”

Phil reached up to rub his chin and he even took a bit of a power stance. He could feel Dan’s eyes on him, amused and gleeful, and he hummed like he was a critic considering wine. He’d never been to a wine tasting in his life but he could pretend.

“Robust, direct and with an aroma of banter. I like it,” he said and glanced over at his partner with a smirk.

Dan rolled his eyes fondly. “You’re an idiot,” he said, even as he begun to type on his computer.

And so DanAndPhilGAMES was born one lazy afternoon. It would take them over four months to actually announce the channel and film their first video but that was faster than any of them had expected.

Dan and Phil both had too much fun making a Star Wars into trailer for both of their channels. It was so nerdy and so very much like them. Announcements on YouTube were normally dramatic and then there were those two dorks just making a gaming channel and being dramatic about it. The response was overwhelmingly good from their audience and they both felt a little touched at the outpouring of love and support for something so simple as a gaming channel.

Again and again, through the years to come, they would find that their audience was standing ready to shower them with praise and acceptance every time they tried something new or revealed something.

In an honour to the game that they’d been playing on the day that the channel was created, they unanimously decided that Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze. They had gotten all of their filming stuff set up in the office and they sat on the dark blue IKEA sofa that could double as a bed. They had never used the office that much before, other than occasionally playing games at the computer or answering emails and then also using it for a place for people to stay over. It would finally get its purpose with the birth of the gaming channel.

It was a little odd at first, and they kept glancing mostly at each other or the game screen instead of the camera but after a couple of minutes that initial awkwardness and the tension started to fade away. It would be the first video of many to be filmed. They had no idea how many things would follow the birth of the gaming channel or that the Sims they created in their joint image would later come to play such an important role in their _first _world tour.

Back then, in September 2014 they were just excited to have something that was theirs to control. Their radio show had just been revamped into Internet Takeover and they would not be doing it as much anymore. While they had enjoyed working for others, they had increasingly found that they enjoyed projects where they had the creative control and that they did not need to answer to anyone.

The gaming channel might just seem like a small thing, and it was back then, but it grew to become the fastest growing YouTube channel up until that point and it would become part of the Dan and Phil world and to a degree even their legacy. All of the inside jokes, the deep attachment to the whole Howlter family and the yearly traditions like spooky week and gamingmas would be a big part of their lives for the next four years.

None of them knew that back at the start but they could sense that it was the start of something cool.

“I think that went well,” Phil said and stretched out his back. It had become easy to ignore the camera when they got more into the game, even if they were also both aware that they needed to create commentary.

“Yeah, I think so,” Dan agree and let out a yawn. He blinked a little as he finished it.

“You should cover your mouth when you yawn,” Phil said teasingly and reached over to poke Dan’s dimple, just because he could. He had wanted to do that most of filming whenever Dan turned towards him, but he didn’t want to add more editing to his plate than necessary.

“Does this make us _gamers_?” Phil said the last word with his announcer voice and Dan couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You know how much I dislike labels,” Dan added with a headshake. “But I suppose we can’t really run from the title. As long as people don’t expect long series or daily uploads then we should be good.”

“Is it weird that I kind of want to jump into editing it right away?” Phil asked. “I’m just so excited to start sharing the videos with everyone. It is almost like that glee I felt when I first uploaded a video on my channel. It’s new and exciting and you don’t really know if people will like it.”

“See, I would say that feeling made me anxious and worried,” Dan said.

“But that anxious excited,” Phil said and leaned further into Dan’s space while wiggling his eyebrows to make Dan laugh.

It worked. Dan laughed that deep laughter that bubbled up from his belly and then spread all over his face. It was one of Phil’s favourites.

“I suppose,” Dan said between bits of laughter and it made his voice come out higher and squeakier.

“For what it’s worth,” Phil said. “I think people will really like it.”

Phil was not wrong and the gaming channel became a huge part of their lives for the years to come. All because they had decided to take the jump, make the channel and start uploading videos. 

**Author's Note:**

> I must admit that the two year prompts on my bingo card had me the most stumped so I'm a little unsure about this one. It's also the shortest of the ones I've posted yet but I still hope you like it. 4 fics down, 21 more to go!


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